Children’s Singer/Songwriter from Hillsborough Sent to Jail on Child Pornography Charge
NEWARK, NJ – Eric. S. Komar, a Hillsborough resident, music teacher and singer/songwriter who performed for children at synagogues, Jewish community centers, camps and conventions nationwide, was sentenced Tuesday to 82 months in prison for receiving images of child sexual abuse, according to U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito.
Komar, 47, was arrested in September 2017 at his residence in Hillsborough and had previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini on one count of receiving child pornography.
Martini imposed the sentence Tuesday in Newark federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Between April 2017 and September 2017, Komar used an Internet based peer-to-peer file-sharing program to obtain images and videos that included images of prepubescent children being sexually abused as well as sadistic and masochistic images. The activity was first detected by an undercover law enforcement officer in April, 2017. Files were downloaded from the IP (Internet Protocol) address, which was associated with the suspect, according to the original complaint.
Komar also admitted to law enforcement that he had become sexually aroused by a child in his presence on more than one occasion.
Authorities executed a search warrant at Komar’s residence in September 2017 while he was at home. Police confiscated a computer thumb drive, an external hard drive, a laptop computer and a desktop computer; a preliminary review of all devices found images and videos of child pornography, according to the complaint.
The suspect admitted to police that he had accumulated a large library of child pornography, according to the complaint, including thousands of images and photos.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Komar to 10 years of supervised release and ordered that he register as a sex offender.
At the time of his arrest there were several YouTube videos and other sites on various social media that featured Komar’s music; he formerly lived in Freehold and North Brunswick.